California fitness officials are ordering the closure of a Foster Farms poultry plant after 8 COVID-19 staff members and at least 358 staff tested positive for the virus died. The order came when the local public fitness branch is running on what it calls “the most serious and lasting outbreak in Merced County” at the Foster Farms facility in Livingston.
The actual number of infections among the plant’s 3,750 employees is unknown, as the official count is largely based on staff who chose to get tested and reported the results on Thursday, the Merced County Department of Public Health said Thursday.
The facility now accounts for 18% of COVID-19 deaths of those 64 and younger in the county. The county public health department’s account of what led to its closure order is a somber retelling of deaths that seemingly didn’t have to happen.
In June, a month before the death of any worker, however, as food cases escalated due to the Foster Farms outbreak, Merced County fitness officials visited the plant and presented recommendations for its spread, mcDPH said in a statement.
According to the Department of Health, Foster Farms has completely complied with the rules for large-scale testing of its staff and changing its rest space.
Throughout July, public fitness officials called for widespread evidence for the epidemic. First, Foster Farms tested less than 100, or about 10%, of those who worked at the branch with the maximum case, and 25% of those tests tested positive. The company took 3 more weeks to expand its testing, and “from then on, 3 deaths were similar to this service alone.”
After some other scale at the plant site in early August, the county issued two rules for Foster Farms out of the steps to take to control the spread of the virus. Over the next 3 weeks, the spread of COVID at the plant was not contained and active outbreaks continued, “representing a significant risk to Foster Farms workers and the surrounding community,” according to the county’s fitness department.
Before issuing the closing order, county and state officials said they had tried to paint with Foster Farms but may not have reached an agreement.
“In view of increasing deaths and uncontrolled COVID-19 cases, the decision was made to order the Livingston Plant within the Foster Farms Livingston Complex closed until acceptable safety measures are in place,” Dr. Salvador Sandoval, Merced County’s Public Health Officer, said in the statement. “The closure of this plant is the only way to get the outbreak at Foster Farms swiftly under control.”
On two pages on Friday, Foster Farms defended its protective measures and said full testing at the Livingston community would end from today.
The company did not respond to an express inquiry as to whether it contemplates complying with the county’s closing order.
Regardless of Merced County’s public statement, Foster Farms workers won emails Thursday night telling them to introduce the property to their regular groups Thursday night or Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“The floor and all the other amenities in the Livingston community are working properly,” the email reviewed through the newspaper said. “Please continue to wear your face mask and stick to other practices in the pictures and outdoors.”
Foster Farms reportedly employs about 12,000 people in turkey and chicken processing at plants in five states. In addition to California, the multibillion dollar company also has operations in Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon and Washington.
On Tuesday, at least 37,500 positive cases similar to meat packing services were reported at 416 plants in 40 states, according to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. About 170 died, according to the Center.
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